Motivation in Project Management, Leadership and Skills - Report Example

Project Management, Leadership and Skills: Planning and Control

Abstract

The level of motivation in a team is considered important for completion of any project. So in such a situation the project manager must take the role of a leader so that team members do not deviate from their goals. Motivational levels of the team members can be increased when the leader portrays all the leadership traits. In this report different theories and models of leadership has been used for evaluating the ways in which a project manager can increase the motivation of the team members. The paper specifically illustrates the case of Harriet and Tom, who lacked focus in their project and the way the project manager through the implementation of the existing models and theories is able to arouse their enthusiasm.

Introduction

The stability of a business depends on the management of the resources that are dedicated towards completing the project within the specified budget. There are 202514 number of project management professionals as per the project management institute. However, the number of certified project managers demanded are considerably higher as they are much more capable in managing projects (Schmid and Adams, 2008). The success of the project depends on the ability of project manager to ensure that project is delivered on time keeping into consideration the budget constraint and the quality specification of the project. In order to guide the project team, there is a need for the project manager to possess the necessary skills to guide the team through a number of stages and life cycle of the project so the motivation is considered less tangible and essential aspect for the success of the project. PMI guide has emphasized that the interpersonal skills are needed to motivate the team members of the project in attaining the project goals. In this paper, different motivational and leadership models in project management are going to be discussed to evaluate the case of Tom and Harriet. Both of them were a part of the project management team but were seen to face issues that showed their lack of interest towards their work. The discussion will illustrate the way motivational level is enhanced within them and impact of leadership and communication in the process.

Theoretical Background

Leadership

In project management, the projects are only successful when project managers possess both the leadership and management skills. Leadership skills are not similar to that of the management skills. Organization skills are gained through practice and experience while leadership skills are learnt and developed. Effective leaders develop new skills of leadership so that it complement those that have helped them in making them successful managers. Leaders are those individuals who are able to motivate their team members so that they make a positive contribution towards work (Mir and Pinnington, 2014). Though success of the project and use of improved tools have helped in increasing the productivity of a team, yet there are a number of intricate challenges in achieving and setting the strategic aims. One of such challenges is the weak leadership in the business enterprise.

Leadership skills within the project managers will help in inspiring and motivating the team members. Apart from this, as a leader the project manager should build a positive communication with the members and develop within them influential skills. Team building trait is also important in building as it helps in enhancing team performance (Turner, 2016). The following are some of the essential leadership skills that a project manager should possess to motivate team members.

Motivation and inspiration: Leaders are individuals who develop a vision and tend to communicate it throughout the organization and work with the squad for fulfilling the vision. As a leader of a project, the project manager must see that the level of enthusiasm among the members towards work does not die. He should be able to encourage them to do their best and complete the work with high level of satisfaction (Kumar, 2009).

Team Building: The leaders support the members to help each other as both individual and collective contribution are going to help in achieving the goals of the project (Kissi, Dainty, and Tuuli, 2013).

Negotiation and Communication: Leaders take the initiative of making the stakeholders and the members of the team to work together. There arises opposed and shared interests; yet for undertaking a team decision there is a need for some level of compromise. A team leader can only be capable of creating a project environment where the members are able to communicate openly and make honest discussions (Verburg, Bosch-Sijtsema and Vartiainen, 2013). The greater is the chances members know about the communication style is through interactions. This is going to help in communicating effectively with the project stakeholders.

Listening and Influencing: The team member’s perspective must be configured and understood by a leader before taking any type of team decision. This aspect helps in reducing the chances of a negative impact arising due to communication gap in between leader and the members (Kumar, 2009).

Flannes and Levin (2005) in their research have also suggested that the leadership skills are a prerequisite for the managers. The above specific leadership skills help the project managers in developing into effective leaders. Since a project is managed through contribution made by members so the greater is their engagement the better is going to be the execution of the project.

Improvement of the Team Performance through Overcoming Dysfunctions

The leaders who apply the suitable skills at the right time helps in improving team performance (Beringer, Jonas and Kock, 2013). Managing team productivity is indeed a difficult task as the project team consists of diverse cultures, skills, weaknesses and personalities. Neatby, Aubé and Rioux (2013) in their research stated of the five dysfunctional issues that are popularly seen in a team. Petrick Lencioni developed the model of five dysfunctions in which he highlighted the five types of team issues and ways of resolving it for improving team performance. The following are the five dysfunctions that were stated by Neatby, Aubé and Rioux (2013):

• Absence of Trust: This is the first form of dysfunction in which the team members lack honesty and are not open to any mistakes that are made by them.
• Fear of Conflict: The tone of distrust leads to fear of conflict. The leaders in a team are not capable of engaging in constructive and passionate ideas.
• Absence of commitment: The prevalence of fear of conflict leads to fear of commitment to team decision.
• Avoidance of accountability: The members on failing to comply to the decision in a team are likely that they tend to avoid accountability (Davis, 2014).
• Lack of attention to results: The fifth dysfunction thrives due to the lack of accountable nature. The members of the team are seen to place their purpose above the group objective.

All the five dysfunctions are interlinked; even when one of the dysfunctions flourishes, the entire chain breaks down. In order to avoid the above dysfunctions in a team, the following are the positive approach that project management leaders should ensure in a team:

• Team members should trust each other.
• Team members need to engage in unfiltered form of conflict around the ideas.
• The members of a team must commit to the decision of a team and plans the course of action (Kumar, 2009).
• The delivery of a plan requires members of the team to be accountable.
• The focus of the team members should be towards attainment of the aims of the project.

The better understanding of the dysfunction and ways of overcoming it is a great test to leadership skills. The real leader is one who studies the dysfunctions and the cause of it so that the problem is solved from the root.

Classification of Leaders

There are different project styles that are possessed by the project managers, which are shown by them as per the situation. McDonough (2011) has stated the different project management leadership styles put forward by Daniel Goleman. The following are some of the leadership styles that are seen to be applied by the project managers:

• Coercive Leader

Project managers are rarely seen to show this form of leadership style; they apply those during the time of crisis i.e. a situation where in a project deadline could possibly be missed.

• Authoritative leader

The project manager with authoritative style of leadership is capable of handling all the operations in a project. The greater is the application of the style; the better is the results achieved. Authoritative leader helps in motivating people by showing them the way their work fits in the vision of the project (Ramazani and Jergeas, 2015).

• Affiliative Leader

Affiliative leadership style is more like management style and is mostly seen to be over used by the managers.

• Democratic Leader

Democratic style of leadership is quite frequently seen to be used by the project managers for taking decision on small and big projects. The upside of this form of leadership style is that it helps in enhancing employee morale.

• Pace Setting

Pacesetting style of leadership by the project managers is quite common. It is a way in which the leader expects high standards from the team members. In this style, the managers can witness a lot of stress within the team.

Analysing the case through supporting models and theories

Through different theories and models, it is quite evident that project managers with effective leadership style will help in better team management. Since Tom and Harriet in the project management team lacked motivation so the project manager should have used the essential leadership traits for motivating them to work. As a project manager there is a need for him to listen to them and know the aspects that are causing them to avoid their work. Listening skills and speaking to the members are the most important ways of comprehending the thoughts that prevail in the mind of the team members. After understanding problem that is faced by the team members, there is a need for the leader to motivate using all the perspective. Welbourne, S.B. Andrews and A.O. Andrews (2005) have shown optimizing energy as one of the ways in increasing motivation. However, he has noticed that over motivation can be detrimental to team performance. Similarly, the project leaders must see that the energy level of Tom and Harriet is directed through right channel. However, Gagne and Deci (2005) have reported through the meta-review motivational concept is considered both subtractive and additive. Welbourne, S.B. Andrews and A.O. Andrews (2005) have further revealed that the level of energy of the members must not surpass as this might lead to complexities.

Ways of facilitating a relationship between leader and team member

Schmid and Adams (2008) in their research had stated that autonomy provided to the members in a team helps in better management. The project manager should also be providing Tom and Harriet with enough autonomy. The greater autonomy is going to help them in increasing their level of performance, raising intrinsic job satisfaction and reducing the job pressure. The feedback on the work performed by the team members is an ideal way through which the employees can be motivated. In case of Tom and Harriet, the project manager should take the initiative of appreciating their work. This could be done by the manager in a number of ways through which they could improve their pace at work so that they take the initiative of completing the project. Gagne and Deci (2005) have highlighted that negative feedback can lead to undermining of the intrinsic and extrinsic form of motivation. Thus, the project manager should not be too harsh in terms of feedback as this might lead to severe effect. If tangible rewards are considered as feedback then there is a need for special attention from the part of the project manager as its impact can break or make motivation even more than a feedback provided verbally. Recognition and rewards provided to members are most convenient way of developing their motivational levels. Most of the organizations are seen to make it a part of their goal in letting their employee’s standout through recognizing their contribution (Cserhati and Szabo, 2014). However, the selection of the rewards must be done carefully so that it helps in develop motivation rather than undermining it (Gagne and Deci, 2005). The project manager on considering rewarding Tom and Harriet must see that it is dependent on task engagement. The rewards in a team should go beyond the regular recognition of the employees. It should help in targeting accomplishment for the team. The project manager should see that specific rewards in a team is avoided to avoid potential conflicts. Tom and Harriet in the project management team lacks motivation but the manager must see that rewards are provided to the entire team member. Reward provided to each member is going reduce the level of enthusiasm and the level of productivity of the other members.

The project manager for handling the team must see that deploy the distinguished leadership styles. The project managers must possess authoritative style of leadership skills so that staff member like Tom and Harriet are continuously motivated. The leaders with such traits will help members to work towards the goal of the project (Hornstein, 2015). The project manager or the leader should use the model of five dysfunctions to diagnose the type of issues that are faced by Harriet and Tom. Through this model, it can be seen that they lack commitment towards their work and they were not open to any decision. The project manager should administer ways for boosting their commitment levels to the decision making in a team. The issues can be resolved by enhancing their level of motivation through listening and communicating as frequently as possible by the leader so that there is no scope of gap in the communication level.

Conclusion

The role of a leader in motivating the team members is quite significant as this is going to help in realisation of the goals of project. The project managers on taking the role of a leader is capable for creating a subculture that helps in creating team dynamism. In order to motivate, all team members in a project like Harriet and Tom requires project manager to be sensitive from the initial stage of the project. The project can only be successful if all members work collectively. Thus, a leader with authoritative skills is going to help in motivating all team members, which will ultimately result in the completion of the project prior to the deadline.

Reference List

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